CHURCH minister Lawrence Fellick is this week telling parishioners that he and his family will leave Coventry in the summer.

The Rev Fellick, who has been in charge of Quinton Park Baptist Church in Cheylesmore for the past ten years, has accepted a new post in the urban parish of Swaythling on the edge of Southampton.

He said: "I am hoping the redevelopment of the Cheylesmore church and its community hall will be well under way by the time we leave at the end of July."

Mr Fellick's wife Louise, and children Lucy, aged 12 and Ellie, aged nine, will be accompanying him to the Southampton.

The rebuilding of the decaying church hall on the edge of Quinton Park has been one of Mr Fellick's main priorities in recent years.

The local doctor's surgery is due to relocate to part of the site, raising some cash towards the development, but then an application for lottery money failed and hopes faltered.

As it turned out the loss of local pub, The Cheylesmore, led to property developer Julian Peck offering to replace some of the lost community facilities by donating £250,000 to the church building fund.

Mr Peck - who had to appeal to a government inspector to win approval from the city council for his plans to develop flats on The Cheylesmore site - is expected to announce details of when work can begin within the next few days.

Mr Fellick said: "It will be good to stay until the redevelopment work is well under way. We will be sorry to leave so many friends but after ten years our going will mean somebody can come along with fresh eyes to work in this area."

BEDWORTH Symphony Orchestra will give a concert in the town on Saturday, February 2.

February Frolics, at Nicholas Chamberlaine Technology College in Bulkington Road from 7.30pm, will feature works by Sibelius, Bruch and Rimsky-Korsakov.

Tickets are £5 for adults, with under 16s free. Further details from www. bedworthsymphony. org